


Wanted

by Hormonal_Trashbag



Series: Moments of Desparity [4]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), more post-TLJ angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 01:12:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13823325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hormonal_Trashbag/pseuds/Hormonal_Trashbag
Summary: She should have realized that the truth would be revealed eventually--that while the Resistance had been scrambling to survive, Rey had been aboard theSupremacy,fighting a fruitless battle of her own making.Silently, she stared at the holo-flyer hovering over the dejarik table in the main cargo hold, her own image glaring back.In a clunky aurebesh font it read:Rey of Jakku wanted for the murder of Supreme Leader Snoke.The First Order had put out a bounty of 100,000 credits on her head, dead or alive.





	Wanted

She should have realized that the truth would be revealed eventually--that while the Resistance had been scrambling to survive, Rey had been aboard the  _ Supremacy,  _ fighting a fruitless battle of her own making _.  _ Silently, she stared at the holo-flyer hovering over the dejarik table in the main cargo hold, her own image glaring back. 

 

In a clunky aurebesh font it read:  _ Rey of Jakku wanted for the murder of Supreme Leader Snoke. _

 

The First Order had put out a bounty of 100,000 credits on her head, dead or alive.

 

One by one, each surviving member of the Resistance turned to gape at her. Rey knew they expected some form of explanation but all she could do was sink to her knees in grief, new heartbreak settling between her ribs.

 

“How could he?” she whispered.

 

She should have known better than to believe Kylo Ren capable of  _ love.  _ Rey wasn’t sure she had ever felt so betrayed in her life.

 

Finn finally spoke with a slow, even tone, as if to placate a dangerous animal. “Rey, what is this?”

 

She looked around a room of distrusting faces.  _ Liar,  _ they all said. 

 

If she ever had the misfortune to meet him again, Rey was going to kill him. How dare he? How dare he let her think she had a person to belong with? She would take that spitting saber of his and cleave him in equal halves, just as he had rent her heart in two.

 

She had been right all along. He was a monster.

 

Rey opened her mouth to answer but she couldn’t speak. She could scarcely breathe. She pushed back onto her feet and tumbled through the circle of fighters, unable to think. How was she supposed to make them understand? They would call her a fool for falling for his conniving tricks and now, she couldn’t deny the accusation. He had led her to believe that somewhere under his dark facade, Ben Solo still resided, waiting for the light to reach him. Now she had no choice but to accept that she had been chasing a dream.

 

What a beautiful dream it had been.

 

Rey had wasted fifteen years on dreams, hoping her family would return for her. She couldn’t afford to waste more of her life on heedless hope. It would be her ruin.

 

“Rey?”

 

She froze at the sweet, concerned voice, swiping at her eyes with the cuffs of her sleeves. 

 

“Are you alright?” Rose asked.

 

Rey had been pleased to see her friend had found his belonging. Rose was a kind and good woman, and she didn’t put up with nonsense. She was who Finn needed.

 

Unexpected jealousy flared in her chest, twisting her insides with a burning ache. Why couldn’t she have that, too? Wasn’t she good enough? There must have been something inherently wrong with her, Rey realized. Of course, Kylo Ren hadn’t chosen her. No one had before.

 

“No,” she seethed, angry tears dribbling down her cheeks, unable continue.  _ The man I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with just put a price on my head and he lied to do it.  _ Just when she was beginning to believe he couldn’t possibly hurt her more than he already has, he finds a new and creative way to break her heart.

 

Rey shook her head, furious with herself. “Just...tell them I didn’t kill Snoke. Ben--” she bit her lip and corrected her slip,  _ “--Kylo Ren  _ killed his master to take his place.”

 

Rose’s voice became quiet, stern, biting with suspicion. “How do you know that?”

 

She imagined the fierce expression Rose would make if Rey answered truthfully:  _ I went to him in the hopes that he would turn from his darkness, that he would decide to be with me rather than continue on his quest for more power.  _

 

She couldn’t say it. The Resistance would never trust her again. Already, Kylo Ren had planted seeds of doubt in her new friends. How long until she would be their enemy as well?

 

Instead, Rey straightened her back, returning Rose’s sharp look with one of her own. “Because I  _ do.” _

 

If Kylo Ren could lie to the galaxy, so could she. As far as the Resistance would know, she had felt it in the Force.

 

* * *

 

Rey was in the cockpit, plotting their course to a system in the mid-rim that was willing to offer sanctuary at least on a temporary basis when Leia silently strode in. 

 

Leia hadn’t asked for too many details after witnessing her son, scarcely dressed, kissing Rey in this same cockpit. She sensed that the privacy she had been allowed on the matter had swiftly reached its expiration. Rey should have expected it but couldn’t help tensing in preparation for the judgment about to be passed.

 

Leia didn’t bother mincing words. “What is going on between you and my son?”

 

“Are you asking as his mother or as General Organa of the Resistance?” she asked in turn.

 

It was a reasonable question to ask, Rey surmised, but when she glanced over her shoulder to where Leia stood behind her, she was schooling an unexpected grimace of hurt.

 

“The roles aren’t mutually exclusive,” Leia said at length.

 

Rey found she couldn’t lie to Leia, the woman that had taken one look at her and when recognizing the open, aching loneliness had met her with a warm embrace. She couldn’t remember what her own mother’s arms felt like, wrapped around her middle, but Rey imagined it would feel something like being hugged by Leia.

 

She glanced out into the black of space to quietly admit, “We are bonded through the force. I...I defied Luke to go to him, I believed he could be turned and that he was our last hope.”

 

Leia sat heavily in a rear cockpit chair, too exhausted to lean against her cane.

 

“He took me before his master. Ben was ordered to kill me but--”

 

Rey stilled as the air shifted, his presence reaching out across the lightyears to connect with her. She whirled in her seat as he solidified, looming in the archway like a wraith. His black robes were finely tailored with golden embroidery and on his shoulders draped an ermine cape held together by jeweled clasps set in gold. The circlet crown that shone against his pale forehead rested over twin braids that stretched from his temples to the back of his skull so that his ears peeked through black tresses. 

 

While her fury skyrocketed, a sense of relief swelled from him and he rushed towards her with hurried stomps, his arms around her before she can say a word. She hates the sudden sensation of warmth that surrounds her, the safety he provides so easily. She hates that every nerve ending in contact with him singed with a yearning so deep it twisted her insides into flustered knots.

 

_ “I’m so glad you’re safe,” _ he said, nosing at the soft spot of skin behind her ear.

 

Rey exhaled slowly through her nostrils, eyes clenched shut as she turned her face away from him. “How can you even  _ say  _ that to me?”

 

Ben reared back as if she had slapped him.  _ “Do you think  _ I _ would put a bounty out on you? After everything I told you--” _

 

“You are the Supreme Leader!” She bellowed.  _ “Everything  _ the First Order does is your doing!”

 

His back straightened as his hands fell to his sides.  _ “I’ve only seen the flyer now. I have nothing to do with it, Rey. If you had come with me, I could have protected you from this and we would both be getting coronated today! Instead, you’ve forced me to lead alone.” _

 

“Rey.”

 

Leia’s startled tone breaks her from her reverie.

 

“Ben...my  _ son... _ I can still sense him. He appeared as you touched--”

 

Rey didn’t pause to think before reaching out to grab his fist.

 

It was then that Ben realized they weren’t alone.

 

He stiffened, a twitch forming under his eye.  _ “General.” _

 

Leia staggered under his stare, his aloof tone slicing through her cobbled facade of peace. Even now, he was still her son. A pained smile twisted her lips as she took in his finery.

 

“You look like a true heir of Alderaan,” she whispered. “I wish I could tell you I was proud.”

 

He flinched, making a subtle step to stand closer to Rey. She could see it on his face--a significant part of him wished he was merely heir of Alderaan, and she wondered if perhaps he  _ was  _ meant to rule in some capacity.

 

She wasn’t sure what spurned Ben on, but he leaned forward to press their foreheads together with a gleam of determination set in his wide, brown eyes.  _ “I promise you, Rey, one day I’ll make you the most well-loved woman in the galaxy. But until you’re ready to be my Empress, be safe. Keep yourself hidden.” _

 

He closed the connection and Rey was left with more questions than she could possibly answer.


End file.
